1. The story opens with school
being close because of inclement weather and Mia’s family deciding to take a
trip to visit friends and relatives. Describe the mood of the morning. What role
does this scene play when tragedy hits?
Personally, snowy and rainy
mornings are weathers that signify sleep for me, turning my hibernation switch
on so I can lie on my bed, maybe enjoy a cup of tea and then doze off into my
subconscious. As I have learned, especially on my Contemporary World Literature
subject, a literary piece’s weather setting has a great significance to how the
flow of the story play off. The weather in the first part might have been an
omen of what will the events turn about.
The role of the tempestuous
weather has a great factor in the accident the family has gone through. Without
it, the family could have avoided colliding with another moving vehicle due to
the slippery concrete.
2. After the initial tragedy, the
reader learns more about Mia’s parents. What does Mia have in common with her
father? Her mother?
First of all, the most common
trait she has with both parents is her love of music, even if it is of
classical genre and not necessarily the same with her parents.
Mia is a cellist and her father
was a drummer way back when he was living the rock star life. Personally, I don’t
think interest in a musical instrument runs in the blood. Like my family, I
play the violin and a little bit of piano, whereas my mother doesn’t but had
dreamt of strumming the guitar when she was in her adolescent stages, father is
a master guitarist along with my brother and my sister is learning the piano.
As for her mother, Mia must have
taken her guts and strength as seen on how long she had held on after the
incident.
3. Mia’s grandparents play an
influential role in her life. What do each of them give her? How are these
relationships similar? Different? How have they influenced Mia’s father?
Mia’s grandparents had the
typical treatment towards her and Teddy. They were very supportive of Mia, even
too pushy. The delegation of Juilliard to her by her grandma showed how much
her grandparents saw how great her talents was to deem her worthy of the
prestigious music school, even when Mia doubts her own skills. Even if it was
entirely her grandma’s plan and she was excited to accompany Mia yet some
untoward accident happened to her, Mia’s grandfather volunteered for the job
without any hesitations. These actions are similar in a way because of their
undying support for Mia and in a way, when Mia’s father finally realized that
his age is kicking in and that a new family will be adding up, he had to be a
father like his own.
4. Mia has two important peer relationships
in the story – with her best friend, Kim, and her boyfriend Adam. Kim and Adam
are distant with each other. Is Mia’s reaction to their coolness toward each
other normal?
Kim and Adam belonged to
different cliques and at the adolescent stage, it’s hard to blend in with a
certain clique you are not part of. That’s what happened between Kim and Adam.
Adam was a rock music person while Kim was mostly opinionated and doesn’t
necessarily need to be labeled.
In my opinion, it was normal for
Mia to have her two favorite people to at least like and hang out with each
other. If it were me, I’d do the same so that it won’t be hard to hang out with
the both of them at the same time. And also, when a person loves someone, that
person would want them to meet the other people they love.
5. Mia and Adam have different
musical interests. Mia loves classical music and plays the cello. Adam plays in
a popular rock band. What draws them together?
Music is like the very language
we people talk, only instruments interpret them for us. And like our own
language, music has its own varieties. When Chinese language can have Mandarin
and Cantonese, it’s the same with music having classical music and rock music.
Nevertheless, it is still the same kind but with difference in how people
interpret them.
As a violinist, I am very
familiar with a few of classical pieces by earlier composers yet I do enjoy the
music produced by Avril Lavigne and some other contemporary rock bands like Red
Jumpsuit Apparatus. I am very eclectic in my taste in music which sometimes
confuses me because there are days that I love this particular genre, and other
days, another one. In a way, these two genres were never really different from each
other, just how people prefer to listen to it like the Canon in classical mode
and the Canon in rock mode.
6. Mia struggles to fit in Adam’s
group. For Halloween, Mia goes all out and surprises him by dressing as a
rocker chick. What is Adam’s reaction? Explain.
Adam’s reaction was just the same
as if nothing special happened which drove Mia to the verge of tearing up. If I
were to put myself in Adam’s shoes, I can see why he felt the way he felt. He
loved her for who she was, a little awkward but also knows fun at times. These
were one of those times, no mushy feelings just as if everything is normal
which can be very infuriating for a woman, especially if that woman has made an
effort to put in a nice outcome.
7. Discuss the meanings of “sacrifice”
and “choice”. How are they different? How are they similar?
According to Merriam-Webster’s
dictionary, sacrifice means a destruction or surrender of something for the
sake of something else, while choice means, the act of choosing; selection.
Both are different because
sacrifice is commonly used when choosing between two things that are dear to
the person making the decision whilst choice is the perfect option between two
things that are not necessarily at par with each other when it comes to their
gravity to the person in decision.
Both are similar in ways that
something must be given up to make a choice. Sometimes, the choice might be a
tough one but can do good for the wellness of everyone while sometimes they don’t.
8. The themes of sacrifice and
choice occur throughout the story and play out in several relationships. Is Mia’s
father’s giving up his own music because of his children a sacrifice or choice?
Definitely a choice. He’s not
really giving up music, he just had to choose which one will he prioritize more
and be devoted to one hundred percent. Like the saying goes, “one cannot serve
two master at once” and it has proven quite correct in most cases.
In life, we only have one choice
among many crossroads that we will be undertaking. Sometimes we need to
sacrifice things too, but most of them must be made because we choose them to
be.
9. How is Mia’s father a symbol
for one person transforming his/her life for another? How does Gramps view his
decision? Do Henry and Willow understand why Mia’s father wants to change? What
decisions must Adam and Mia consider? Are these choices or sacrifices?
I’ve learned in my first year
sociology classes that there was a movement in philosophy that one’s action can
definitely affect another’s, I just forgot the name of the movement. But that’s
the gist of it all and it is well represented here in Mia’s father’s decision
to leave the music scene, pursue graduate studies to have a steady income to
provide for his growing family.
Apparently, Gramps wasn’t very
much happy about his son’s decision because although he doesn’t like the genre
much but he likes to see how his son is so absorbed in his role as the drummer.
After all the ruckus and
misunderstandings between Henry and Mia’s father, he realized it when Willow
was pregnant and will be forming a family soon. He realized that the decision
of Mia’s father was for the best and not merely a spur of the moment thing and
to leave behind the memories of the band. He just had to go because he needs to
be a father to his growing family.
In the long run, Mia and Adam
will have to face the same decisions. The travelling life of a musician can be
no fun, what with all-nighters and energy can be depleted by the performance.
Somehow, when Mia and Adam decides to settle down in the future, they are going
to have to sacrifice things and make choices.
10. Mia is pulled between wanting
to die and wanting to live, so much that she wishes for a “death proxy.” What
effect does Gramps’ visit on Mia?
Gramps’ visit to Mia made her
contemplate of the decisions she’ll be making sooner because after all, she’s
still the one who gets to decide whether she’ll stay or jump on to the other
end of life. Her grandfather’s visit had her thinking that she doesn’t want to
do the decisions and is she could she’d replace another to have her place so
she won’t be on the status she’s in.
11. Kim says to Mia, “You still have
a family.” What did this mean to you? What is family?
It may seem that Mia lost her
family to the untoward accident but in the lighter side, she still has her
caring grandparents, relatives, Kim and Adam. It would mean the world to me, to
be accepted by others even when you are totally broken and cannot be fixed.
Some people just don’t want to lose special people in their lives.
To me, family is the basic unit
of the community. Without it there would be no community. My mother likes to
call us a ‘dysfunctional family’ because of the things we’ve been through,
nevertheless, I have come to realize that I don’t want another family, I am
happy with my own. My family is my source of strength and happiness, without
them, I feel alone and does not fit into place. The family I have makes me feel
secured and that all I needed in the world to live is them.
12. Adam goes to desperate
measures to see Mia for the first time and then stays only a few minutes before
racing out. He returns later with some classical music and a headset he puts on
Mia. What does this act suggest about his relationship with Mia? Using examples
from the story, make a case for Adam’s unconditional love for Mia. Is it
possible to make the opposite case?
This relationship suggests that
Adam cares for her too much and that possibly maybe, even in a coma state, she’s
find her way back when she is introduced to the thing she loved most, classical
music.
One case would be the Yo-Yo Ma
concert, their first date. Adam went to working for two weeks delivering pizzas
just to acquire tickets for a performer he doesn’t even like. This comes to
show of his strange determination for a socially aloof girl like Mia. If the
tables were turned, I doubt Mia would have done the same thing.
13. How would your response to
the story be different if Mia had died?
I don’t think so. I think I’d
still feel the same towards the story. The plot had a gravity so strong it
might have been a black hole. I’ve finished the book in a day because of the
fast pacing and because of how I want to know what happens next. If Mia had
died in the end I would probably literally cry. I had to cry because she
endured almost a day of pain seeing herself and her loved ones when her light’s
going to blow out anyway.
14. Music plays an important role
in the story. Cite examples and explain.
One example is Beethoven ‘s Cello
sonata 3 which was the song Mia was listening when the accident happened. It
accompanied the demise of their family and somehow made the incident more
dramatic than it actually is. Accidents happen in a flash, but the songs tend
to make a slow version of the accident.
15. What meaning can you
attribute to the song written by Mia’s father? How does it represent in the
themes in the story? How does it represent Mia’s life? That of her father? Her
mother? The lives of their family friends Henry and Willow?
The meaning I can attribute to
the song is that the person has already decided to leave and people may take
notice of his absence but nothing can stop him because it’s long been decided.
It represents that Mia has
already made a decision for her life that she chose, also for the rest of her
family. Her mother dreamed of dying together with her father, and that decision
was fulfilled. Later on, Henry decided that he has to grow up and have to take
care of his family too, also with Willow.
16. Do you consider Mia and Adam
a mature couple? Why or why not? Do you think Mia and Adam will continue their
relationship? What does their future hold?
They are kind of both mature and
not. Mature because they have come in terms that they have to understand each
other but also otherwise because they cannot seem to openly converse with each
other about their pressing situation.
I think they will have to face
the situation sooner and have to decide on how to approach the matter.
17. Discuss the use of point of
view in the story. To continue the first-person, present-tense point of view
introduced in the opening scene, the writer has Mia narrate the story in an
unusual way. Why might the author have chosen this technique instead of writing
the story from a third-person point of view?
The writer must have taken advantage
of this style so that the reader can simulate better, putting one’s shoes in
Mia’s place and so that the story would be felt by the heart.
Usually, when I read in a
third-person point of view, I feel like I’m just an onlooker, no one special,
just a reader. But when I read in first-person point of view, I feel like I am
the star of the show, I am the driver of the car, not just someone riding
shotgun.
18. Forman makes extended use of flashback
to tell the story. Explain how flashback scenes help us to understand Mia’s
thoughts about living or dying.
The story started with the onset
of the accident, there won’t be anything to tell afterwards so the author must
do flashbacks so that there will be a story. So that whatever Mia is doing in
the current situation, there would be back up reasons as to why she’s thinking
or doing that.
Flashbacks help readers to
understand a situation better so that the readers could put the pieces together
and solve the puzzles.
19. Could the story have been
called If I Leave? Why or why not?
If I Leave would have a negative
implication on the story. That would mean Mia is more inclined to dying rather
than staying alive. It would most likely end up where Mia ultimately dies of
complications of the collision.
If I Stay somehow brightens up
the mood of the story, it gives the reader hope that Mia might want to stay
longer alive than to die.
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